The Price of Freedom
Page 25
“You did not force me, I chose to come. Let us not speak of that anymore. All is forgiven.”
Richard gently kissed her lips in thanks and unbuttoned the cream colored wedding dress, letting it slide down her body until it formed a pool on the floor. He lifted her out of it and swung her around until she was free of the encumbrance and dressed only in a light chemise. Deborah pushed his jacket from his shoulders and quickly unbuttoned his shirt until it hung open giving her access to the contours of his chest to explore.
Bending his head, he reverently kissed her eyes and her cheek where the bruise from William’s blow had now faded, before claiming her lips in a kiss that began softly but increased in intensity as she peeled off his shirt to delight her hands in the feel of the taut muscles of his shoulders.
Richard relieved her of the last of her clothing paying homage to her as she stood before him.
“Exquisite,” he whispered in awe as if he were seeing her for the first time.
“One of us is wearing too many clothes,” Deborah teased, fumbling with the buttons of his breeches. Richard hurriedly took over the task from her and quickly tossed them aside. He drew her into his arms and sucked in a breath at the feel of her against him and they held each other close, enjoying the differences between them; one soft, one hard and both made perfectly to complement the other.
Richard picked her up and carried her to the massive four poster bed where he gently deposited her like the precious gift she was.
“My wife,” he said hoarsely, deeply affected by the sight of her hair spread across the pillow and the eagerness for him that he saw in her eyes.
“My husband,” she answered and opened her arms to him in welcome.
There was no more talking save the quiet murmurs of encouragement and approval as they explored each other as if for the first time, their love creating in them a desire to give rather than take, and in the end rewarding them with exquisite pleasure that surpassed anything they had experienced before.
Richard drew Deborah back against him as they lay side by side under the thick blanket. December was always quite cold by Barbadian standards and the wind blowing off the ocean and through the bedroom window chilled Deborah who was glad for Richard’s warmth against her back.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been happier,” she murmured snuggling against him. “I am now complete.”
Richard dropped a kiss on the top of her head, supremely contented. “I feel the same.”
“I really hope that one day my mother finds this kind of love and happiness,” she confided. “I know that Jethro always had a soft spot for her so maybe they will get together if Master Thomas ever decides to free him.”
“Jethro is a good carpenter so I don’t know how willing my uncle would be to free him but I can ask him. I could offer to buy him and then set him free as I did with you. Maybe I can help him to start a business or he can work on our ships when they need repairs.”
“That would be very good of you, Richard.”
“I’m nothing but good.” He teased. “Speaking of good, my uncle has generously given us £20 as a wedding gift. He’s going to be escorting Aunt Elizabeth and the girls to England early in the New Year but he will come back once they are settled. I think they’re hoping to find husbands for them and that they will remain in England rather than live in this corrupt society.”
“He told me that he is trying to find somewhere for William to go and I will be glad when he’s no longer in Barbados. Maybe living in another island, like Jamaica, will change him.”
“I think only God can change him; after all look how he changed me.”
“Look how he changed us,” she corrected. “You’re right. With God all things are possible.”
These words reassured them as they contemplated the future they would face together in a world that was ruled by prejudice. But they had hope that one day people’s eyes would be opened and they would realize the truth of what Sarah had said.
“We’re all the same. Maybe it’s just that when you don’t know people, when you don’t mix with them, they seem like they different. But we’re all the same.”
THE END